Once, a wise sage spoke to a king about the sacred bond between husband, wife, and son, weaving together the teachings of lineage and family. He began by explaining that when a son is born to a man who follows the proper path, that son, through his lineage, delivers his forefathers and ancestors. A son, he said, saves his father from the hell called Put, and thus is called 'putra'—a truth declared long ago by the Self-born. Through sons, men conquer the worlds; through grandsons, they attain endlessness; and with the son of a grandson, great-grandfathers rejoice. The sage then described the qualities of a true wife: skilled in the household, bearing children, devoted to her husband, and faithful in heart. A wife, he taught, is half of a man, his best friend, the root of the three aims of life—dharma, artha, and kama. He who has a wife is truly connected in this world. Householders with wives fulfill their duties, find joy, and are blessed with prosperity. In solitude, the wife is a pleasant companion; in matters of duty, she is like a father; in times of distress, she is like a mother. Who, even in the wilderness, finds rest and trust? Only he who has a wife, for she is the highest refuge. When a man is beset by difficulties and misfortune, it is only the devoted wife who always follows her husband. The sage revealed that the wife, having departed first, waits for her husband after death; but if the husband dies first, she follows him thereafter. For this reason, marriage is approved: whatever the husband attains, the wife shares, both in this world and the next. Even in heaven, provisions are needed for the body’s nourishment, and the son, born from oneself, is called 'self' by the wise. Therefore, a husband should regard his wife as a mother, and the mother of his son; for the inner self of all is always called the son. The movements, form, actions, tendencies, and marks seen in fathers are also found in sons. Their character, virtues, and conduct—by contact, whether auspicious or inauspicious—are reflected in the son born of the wife, just as one’s own face is seen in a mirror. A father rejoices on seeing his son, as a virtuous man rejoices on attaining heaven. Yet, those who bear the form of a devoted wife, but accept another’s seed, destroy the lineage of their husbands and go to terrible hell. Sons born from another in one’s own wife, though considered 'my sons,' are in fact enemies; they hate, oppose, and do not obey their supposed father. The father also hates them, but not so with his own seed. A son does not hate his father or his true begetter, nor does the begetter hate his son. Therefore, the son is truly one’s own self. Even when tormented by mental sorrows and severe diseases, a person finds delight in his own wife, just as those scorched by heat delight in water. Men, emaciated by exile, miserable, and clad in dirty garments—even they are pleased with their own wives, and the poor rejoice on gaining wealth. Even if spoken to harshly by their wives, the wise do not utter harsh words in return. Knowing that pleasure, affection, and righteousness depend on her, and understanding from the scriptures that she is half of oneself, the wife protects wealth and offspring. The body, the journey through life, righteousness, heaven, the sages, ancestors, and the field of one’s own birth—all are sustained by virtuous women, eternal and pure. What power have even the sages to create offspring without women? What power have even the gods to bring about their own birth? Even for the learned, creation is established among women; some sages have been born from sages, and even from women of low caste. The sage recalled that just as a son, covered in the dust of the earth, runs to embrace his father’s limbs, nothing could be dearer than that. He questioned the king: “You have obtained a son, intelligent and full of longing, who looks at you with sidelong glances—why do you disregard him? Ants carry their own eggs and do not abandon them; why then would you not regard a son such as this in every way? How could you not support your own son born from me? The cuckoo raises its own eggs, and so do the crows. Why then would you, who know all, not regard a son such as this?” He continued: “They say sandalwood born in Malaya is exceedingly cool, yet the embrace of a child surpasses even sandalwood; no garment, no woman, no water has such a touch. The touch of a son being embraced by his child brings happiness; in this world, there is no touch dearer than that of a son. Let this beloved son embrace you; the Brahmin is the best among bipeds, the cow among quadrupeds, the murur among the heavy ones; the son is the foremost among those who give the joy of touch. This enemy-subduer was born after three full years.” “Today, by my command, this prince awaits your call, O tiger among kings, the remover of your sorrow. This descendant of Puru will perform a hundred horse sacrifices; he will accomplish other royal rites like the Rājasūya, with boundless gifts.” The sage then recalled a story: “Once, a cow spoke to me in the sky during childbirth: ‘Alas! Lifting my own calf onto my lap, I went to another village out of affection.’ People greet their sons by smelling their heads; even among the Vedas, the twice-born recite this collection of mantras. You surely know the birth rites for sons; from limb to limb you arise, from the heart you are born.” Thus, the sage concluded, reminding the king of the sacredness of the son, the devotion of the wife, and the eternal bond that sustains the lineage, the household, and the world.